Spring ephemerals | News from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

By Holly Einess

The next few weeks will be a great time to see many of Minnesota’s spring ephemerals blooming in the Arboretum’s Dayton Wildflower Garden. These beauties grow, bloom and become dormant in a relatively short period of time, taking advantage of the sunlight available to them in the spring before the tree canopy has fully leafed out.

Below is a sampling of what was in bloom on a recent sunny day visit. 

Bloodroot (poppy family)

Gets its name from the red-orange juice in its roots and stems. The leaves curl around the flower stem at night and on cloudy days, opening on sunny days. The flowers, too, open to the sun and close at night.  

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Cut-Leaved Toothwort (mustard family)

Grows in small patches on the forest floor; leaves have many coarse “teeth.”

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Dutchman’s Breeches (fumitory family)

Flowers resemble a pair of baggy trousers hanging upside down. Nectar is contained in the flower spurs; bumblebees with a long proboscis are able to access it, as are insects who “cheat” by chewing holes in the spurs.

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False Rue Anemone (buttercup family)

Can form large colonies on the forest floor. Flowers have five white petal-like sepals and produce pollen but no nectar.

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Large-Flowered Bellwort (autumn-crocus family)

One of only two species of bellwort in Minnesota (the other being wild oats). Also known as great merrybells (a rather charming name!). 

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Marsh Marigold (buttercup family)

Requires wet soil; found along or in streams, ponds and marshes.

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Rue Anemone (buttercup family)

Unlike false rue anemone, whose flowers are always white with five petal-like sepals, rue anemone’s flowers range in color from white to pink to lavender and can have five to ten sepals. 

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Sharp-Lobed Hepatica (buttercup family)

Flowers have five to nine petal-like sepals ranging from white to pink to lavender; each flower sits on a single hairy stem. Unlike other spring ephemerals, the leaves of hepatica are retained all summer and through the winter.  

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Spring Beauty (purslane family)

Often grows in large patches; reproduces from small, edible tubers. 

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Twinleaf (barberry family)

A species of “special concern” in Minnesota, which is on the northwest edge of its range. 

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Virginia Bluebells (borage family)

An important early-season food source for many pollinators, especially bees.

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White and Yellow Trout Lilies (lily family)

“Trout” comes from the mottled leaves, which resemble the coloring of a brown trout. Can form huge colonies.

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Wild Ginger (birthwort family)

Flower rests on the forest floor, where ground-dwelling insects can access and pollinate it. Smells like ginger when crushed but is not related to the ginger plant used in Asian cooking. 

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Pasqueflower (buttercup family)

One of the first wildflowers to bloom on the prairie. Covered in silky hairs that protect it against cool spring air.  

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Prairie Smoke (rose family)

Another early bloomer on the prairie. “Smoke” in the name refers to the smoky appearance of the pink feathery seed heads (still to come!). 

Note: These last two flowers were spotted in the Garden for Wildlife.

See more photos of early-blooming wildflowers in this reference guide by Arboretum Natural Resources Horticulturist Annie Gunness. Better yet, come out to the Arb and see them for yourself! 

Holly Einess is a Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer. More information about the program is available at www.minnesotamasternaturalist.org.